Equal opportunity for women in sport

Women's boxing was illegal in Ireland until 2001. Then Katie Taylor became a world champion.

In 2017, the Irish women’s football team described how they had to return tracksuits so they could be used by underage teams.

Players on the Irish women’s hockey team had to pay €550 each to fund preparations for the Hockey World Cup in 2018, where they came in second place.

These are just a few of the stories of women’s sports in Ireland in years gone by. Despite the obstacels faced, women’s sport in Ireland has had many successes.

But we are building an Ireland where our women athletes are as visible as our men.

Since coming into government, we have made a lot of progress:

Equal Access in Sports Capital and Equipment Programme

The latest round of the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme of €250m is the largest-ever investment in sports facilities across the country. Crucially, this funding is tied to ensuring that sports grounds and facilities are made equally available to male and female teams.

Record €4 million Women in Sport Programme

The most recent Women in Sport Programme received a record investment of €4 million and included 45 sporting bodies. This was double the 2022 allocation. The recent Irish Sports Monitor Report for 2023 showed that the gender participation gap in sports is now below 3% for the first time. We will ensure equal participation in sport by 2027.

Mandated 40% female leadership on sports boards

We want to see more women engaging in sport from the pitch to the boardroom, and have tied sports funding to the number of women on the boards of sporting organisations. This figure has risen from 29% in 2020 to 45% today.

At a grassroots level, we are investing in every girl and woman to have an opportunity to try out sports and to have the facilities to play the sport they love.